Commit to Excellence

The quality of your life will be

determined by the depth of your

commitment to excellence, no matter

what your chosen field.

—VINCE LOMBARDI

RESOLVE TODAY TO be the very best at what you do. Set a goal for yourself to join the top 10 percent of your field, whatever it is. This decision, to become very, very good at what you do, can be the turning point in your life. Virtually all successful people are recognized as being extremely competent in their chosen fields.

Remember that no one is better than you, and no one is smarter than you. And everyone who is in the top 10 percent today started off in the bottom 10 percent. Everyone who is doing well was once doing poorly. Everyone who is at the top of his or her field was at one time in another field altogether. And what countless others have done, you can do as well.

Here is a great rule for success: Your life only gets better when you get better. And since there is no limit to how much better you can become, there is no limit to how much better you can make your life.

Your decision to become excellent at what you do, to join the top 10 percent in your field, is the turning point in your life. It is the key to great success. It is also the foundation of high levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. When you are really good at what you do, you feel wonderful about yourself. Being excellent affects your whole personality and all your relationships with other people. You feel happy and proud when you know you are at the top of your field.

Here is one of the most important questions you will ever ask and answer, for the rest of your career: What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?

You cannot become good at everything right away, but you can identify the one skill that can help you the most and then throw your whole heart into developing that skill. Set it as a goal. Write it down. Set a dead- line. Make a plan. And work on becoming better in that area every single day. You will be absolutely amazed at the difference this commitment to excellence will make in your life. This commitment alone can make you a self-made millionaire in the course of your career.

ACTION EXERCISE

Identify your key result areas in your current job. What are the parts of your work that you must absolutely, positively perform in an excellent fashion to move to the top of your field? Where are you strong and where are you weak? Make a plan today to get better in the one skill area where improvement can help you the most.